These are by far my favorite holiday treat. I love them. I always was so excited each year when Grandma would come visiting with her coffee cans full of sweet treats. Now it is my turn to pass on the tradition and I look forward to making these each year! Grandma Elsie’s Chocolate Coconut Balls 2 pounds confectioner’s sugar1-1/2 cup shredded or flaked coconut1-1/2 cups chopped pecans1 can sweetened condensed milk1 teaspoon vanilla1/2 pound butter, melted12 ounces of dark (bittersweet) chocolate chips2 Tablespoons coconut oil Place sugar, coconut, pecans, milk and vanilla in a bowl. Pour melted butter over all ingredients and mix well with an electric mixer. Refrigerate and chill mixture 3-4 hours. Once chilled, roll into balls the size of walnuts and place on a cookie sheet. Chill [... To read more, click here ...]
I am terrible at making traditional fudge. You think fudge would be no big deal for me, seeing as how I make several varietities of candies for the holiday’s every year, and I’ve conquered my fear of the candy thermometer in various buttercream recipes via Daring Bakers, but I have never conquered fudge. That “soft-ball” stage I hear about? A myth I’m sure. Whenever I try a new fudge recipe I either wind up with crunchy, crystallized fudge (yuck!) or basically a highly stressful to make ice-cream topping (because the fudge doesn’t set). Long ago I decided to stop trying new recipes and stick with my old faithful, which I’m sharing with you below. This recipe was originally found in an old family cookbook (named “See’s Fudge” but I’m concerned [... To read more, click here ...]
This recipe is a family favorite. My grandma used to make one or two batches of these a year and bring them as gifts, along with a batch of her famous fudge, in coffee cans for Christmas. I’ve since taken over the tradition and these are always met with love and thankfulness to everyone they meet. These are an act of love, as they certainly take some time to make, but with extra helping hands it makes the process easier! Plus, I only make these once a year, (my annual candy making Saturday!) so it is well worth the effort! Packaged up in some seasonal tins, this is a special family treat I’m happy to share! Grandma Elsie’s Buckeye’s 3 pounds confectioners sugar2 pounds creamy peanut butter1 pound butter, softened2 [... To read more, click here ...]
I love anything ginger related. I like fresh ginger in marinades, adore the chewiness of crystallized ginger, enjoy a sip of ginger ale now and again, have to sample a bite of the pink pickled ginger when we get sushi, frequently carry around a tin of Ginger Altoids and have even been known to come out of the shower ginger-scented . The flavor of ginger, to me, is essentially an autumnal and wintry scent. Reminscent of spicy smells emanating from the oven, I love it in everything from my favorite Christmas ham recipe, to my favorite holiday cookie recipe, which I’m sharing with you below! I’ve augmented the recipe this year to make it a bit healthier, with a return to more natural sugars and whole wheat flour as the [... To read more, click here ...]
Most people don’t know what to think about this cookie. It isn’t frosted, it isn’t shaped, it doesn’t have chocolate chips . . . but for me, it wouldn’t be Christmas without them. Pfefferniuss (pronounced Feffer-noose) are a traditional German spiced cookie that my family makes every year. I remember rolling this out and making it when I was too little to use a real metal butter knife, I was instead given a small plastic knife to make these little cookies. I probably teethed on them, and my children and grandchildren will make them much as my mother and grandmother and her mother before her makes these without fail every year. I even gave them away as our favor at our wedding almost two years ago as it was during [... To read more, click here ...]
